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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Sitting as a High Court judge, Nigel Cooper KC found in favour of Premia Reinsurance Ltd and Arch Reinsurance Ltd, deciding they were entitled to insist that a £1m cap in an expenses clause within their agreement with Am Trust International Insurance Ltd did, in fact, apply to fees they must meet for the insurer. Cooper stated that the claimants’ construction was correct and that the expenses they are required to pay fall under the £1m cap. The reinsurers brought a claim against Am Trust in 2022. The pair explained that, in 2019, they had reached an arrangement with Am Trust to acquire the economic interest in the 2017 and 2018 years of account of Lloyd’s Syndicate 1861......
Delivering a unanimous ruling, the appellate court found that the insurer Mediterranean and Gulf Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co ( Medgulf) bears no responsibility for damages claimed by Technip Saudi Arabia Ltd. Technip sought partial recovery of a US$25m payment it was required to make after a supply vessel it operated struck an oil platform in the Persian Gulf. The engineering firm attempted to overturn a July 2023 High Court judgment, which held that Medgulf did not need to pay because the circumstances of the collision were captured by an exclusion in the policy. The Court of Appeal confirmed the earlier decision as stated......
One of the Big Four advisory firms stated that rises in premiums could be more modest amid softer inflation. It also said this may translate into a rise in people’s take-home pay, which might spur purchases of higher-priced goods that can be insured. According to the Office for National Statistics, the inflation rate stood at 3.8% on 17 April 2024. Martina Neary, EY’s UK insurance leader, observed that the trading environment has been hugely challenging for insurers and customers over recent years......
Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd asked the Second Circuit to vacate a lower court ruling as moot and remand with directions to dismiss the action brought against Horseshoe Re Ltd. The appeals court stated the federal court had jurisdiction over the matter but lacked lawful authority to remove a Bermuda arbitrator from office. ' After an award issues, there is no longer any dispute about whether the federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction under the New York Convention to hear pre-award petitions seeking removal of arbitrators,' Endurance said on appeal. Counsel for Horseshoe agreed to the relief sought, according to the letter. Court filings indicated on 7 May 2024 that the hearing remained still set for 8 May 2024. Particulars of the award were not disclosed publicly. A Horseshoe spokesperson declined to comment, and an Endurance representative did not immediately respond right away to a request for...
High Court judge Simon Picken said that it is premature, at this point, to determine whether the allegation that Marsh Ltd neglected to secure motor cover for cars rented overseas by Norman Hay plc staff and its group companies is capable of proof. He wrote that halting Norman Hay's action before disclosure, 'at this early stage', would be inappropriate and wrong. The company contends that Marsh, whether through negligence or contractual breach, failed to recognise that senior executives of the chemical group required adequate and appropriate liability insurance while travelling on business abroad. The judgment records that Nigel Kelsall, employed by Norman Hay's subsidiary Internationale Metall IMPragneier Gmb H, was involved in a fatal road collision in Ohio, United States, in November 2018 while driving a rental vehicle without any insurance in place......
This edition includes: Cases and decisions Types of insurance Regulation Solvency II New and updated content Case trackers Key dates Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Insurance: a Lexis®Nexis community Cases and decisions UKSC confirms approach to damages in mixed injury cases following whiplash reforms ( Hassam v Rabot) In Hassam v Rabot, the Supreme Court examined how the ‘whiplash reforms’—which set a statutory tariff for PSLA awards for whiplash—operate in ‘mixed injury’ claims where whiplash and non‑whiplash injuries arise from the same accident. The Court confirmed a broadly two‑step method for valuing PSLA. First, the judge should total the tariff figure for the whiplash element with the common law assessment for PSLA attributable to the non‑whiplash injury. Second, the court must then consider a deduction to prevent compensating twice for the same PSLA already...
What are the practical implications of this case? The Supreme Court’s ruling deserves approval, as it clarifies that the whiplash reforms leave PSLA awards for non‑whiplash harm untouched in mixed injury claims. That element of the judgment aligns with the plain text and underlying purpose of the reforms, namely to curtail compensation for whiplash alone. Yet the two‑stage methodology ultimately endorsed by the Court is liable to generate significant practical difficulties. It obliges judges to trim the overall PSLA to reflect any overlap between common law damages for the non‑whiplash injury and the statutory tariff for the whiplash injury. The tribunal must attempt this balancing act in the dark, because, as the Court appeared to accept, there is no means of identifying what slice of the tariff corresponds to the overlapping component of PSLA. The sole steer supplied by the Court is that this slice is...
In their respective first quarter updates, both insurers deliberately avoided publicly putting a precise number on potential liabilities, while indicating the effect should be manageable. The admission by the pair, companies listed on the London Stock Exchange yet headquartered in Bermuda, underlines the broad financial repercussions of the incident across the international market. Experts forecast it will rank among the most expensive marine insurance disasters in recorded history to date ever witnessed......
Technip Saudi Arabia Ltd Technip Saudi Arabia Ltd told the Court of Appeal that Mediterranean and Gulf Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co ( Medgulf) owes it funds to partially refund a US$25m payout it made after a supply vessel under its operation struck a platform in the Gulf during operations. The engineering company is appealing a July 2023 High Court ruling that Medgulf had no obligation to indemnify because the policy did not respond to this incident. Technip argues High Court Judge Richard Jacobs misconstrued the wording of the policy. According to Peter Mac Donald Eggers KC of 7KBW, for Technip, correctly read, the existing property endorsement does not eliminate cover for Technip’s liability for property owned by Al- Khafji joint operation not expressly scheduled, and the judge’s contrary findings were erroneous. The row arose after Technip paid US$25m to the owner of the...
In a split decision In a split decision, the Court of Appeal panel dismissed Project Angel Bidco Ltd’s bid to set aside a High Court judgment that ruled no pay-out was owed by its seven underwriters, among them Zurich Insurance plc. Justices Kim Lewison and Richard Arnold saw no basis to disturb the October 2023 ruling that the policy carves out losses tied to bribery and corruption—which underlay the criminal allegations against the Liverpool City Council contractor acquired by Project Angel—and, as a result, the underwriters were not liable for losses arising from the company’s collapse. According to the High Court judgment, the dispute followed Project Angel’s 2019 acquisition of Knowsley Contractors Ltd—now defunct and formerly trading as King Construction—for about £16.7m. The lower court recorded that the business delivered civil engineering and construction services to Liverpool City Council in north-west England. The...
Insurance & Reinsurance weekly highlights—2 May 2024 In this issue, we cover the following key topics: Ukraine conflict Coronavirus ( COVID-19) Cases and decisions Types of insurance Market practice Regulation Solvency II New and updated content Case trackers Key dates Lex Talk®Insurance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Ukraine conflict Insurer agrees settlement concerning Russia-grounded aircraft ( BOC Aviation ( Ireland) Ltd and another v Convex Insurance UK Ltd and others) An aircraft lessor and its insurer resolved a disagreement about indemnities for jets left in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. BOC Aviation ( Ireland) Ltd has reached a confidential accord with Convex Insurance UK Ltd, pursuant to a High Court order dated 24 April 2024. See News Analysis: Insurer agrees settlement concerning Russia-grounded aircraft ( BOC Aviation ( Ireland) Ltd and...
Aon stated on 29 April 2024 that the total, marginally higher than the US$15bn in insured losses logged for the same period in 2023, was also influenced by Japan’s Noto earthquake. The disaster, which hit the East Asian nation in January 2024, was the priciest event of the first quarter of the year, with economic losses put at US$17.6bn, according to Aon plc. In the US, around US$8.5bn in insured loss events were recorded, largely stemming from severe storms during the opening three months of the year. Across Europe, storms and flooding generated US$1.1bn of insured losses, while the tally from the Noto quake is anticipated to top US$1bn......
A Court of Appeal panel, ruling unanimously, held that the policy held by Italian restaurant Bellini’s indemnified only losses arising from material harm to the premises. Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, stated in his judgment that the cover concerns business interruption losses of assorted types, but only where physical damage is the cause. He added that it is not, and cannot sensibly be read as, any form of non-damage cover. Had it succeeded, the claim would have markedly expanded insurers’ liabilities. This case is among the earliest to examine whether business interruption policies lacking non-damage extensions would respond to government-mandated closures of businesses during the coronavirus lockdown......
Butlins Skyline Ltd said in a High Court claim issued on 24 April 2024 that its five insurers ( Aviva Insurance Ltd, QBE UK Ltd, Dual Corporate Risks Ltd, Everest Insurance ( Ireland) DAC, and Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Ltd) must pay under a policy that protects the holiday park against accidental damage. Its filing says the resort was hit by flooding in September 2024 after heavy rainfall there. The claim reports ‘extensive damage’, with around 320 units inundated up to 300 millimetres, or more than 11 inches, above ground level, and a further 385 units indirectly impacted by the floods, according to Butlins......
The London-based International Group of P& I Clubs On 26 April 2024, the London-based International Group of P& I Clubs reported that a fresh 'shadow fleet' of vessels transporting Russian oil has emerged due to stringent sanctions, operating without ties to the Group of Seven wealthy nations. Representing 12 insurers that underwrite around 90% of global shipping, the International Group issued its comments in response to a new parliamentary Treasury Committee inquiry into the effectiveness of UK sanctions on Russia. G7 countries introduced financial restrictions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Among these measures was a December 2022 condition allowing insurers to provide cover to ships carrying Russian oil when it was priced below US$60 a barrel. Ships run without any G7 connections are not constrained by the price cap......
BOC Aviation ( Ireland) Ltd A High Court order dated 24 April 2024 records that BOC Aviation ( Ireland) Ltd has reached a confidential agreement with Convex Insurance UK Ltd, bringing their quarrel over grounded aircraft to a close. The pair had been contesting matters within a wider US$129m action that also names another lessor and multiple insurers. BOC Aviation continues to press its case against the remaining insurers cited in the proceedings. Convex declined to provide comment. Requests for comment from BOC Aviation did not receive an immediate reply. The accord was reached just under a month after a High Court judge rejected efforts to stay the......
Admiralty Registrar Richard Davison refused Halcyon Yacht Charter LLP'sapplication to stop the owners of the ' Big Kahuna' and its insurers from continuing its limitation claim in the Admiralty Court of England and Wales. Halcyon possesses a 1929 sailing vessel that went down after flames from the neighbouring ' Big Kahuna' spread whilst craft were moored at the Greek island. The registrar accepted that the cap on claims stands higher in Greece than in England, indicating it could be preferable for the limitation proceedings to be determined there than within jurisdiction. ' The defendant's principal gripe is that any limitation fund constituted here would be one third the scale of a limitation fund constituted in Greece', Registrar Davison concluded. ' However, if England is a forum where the limitation claim can be heard 'suitably for the interests of all the parties and the ends of justice'...
The Net- Zero Insurance Alliance According to the United Nations group, the Net‑ Zero Insurance Alliance, launched in 2021 under the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP), is being wound up and superseded by the Forum for Insurance Transition to Net Zero ( FIT), the UN said. UNEP will preside over the new body and says the forum will accelerate voluntary climate efforts across the insurance industry. Its agenda includes proposing optional net‑zero insurance indicators and goals, alongside developing transition plan frameworks to support net‑zero for organisations in the sector, among other priorities. Butch Bacani, who leads insurance at UNEP, described the forum as ‘an entirely new’ set‑up and undertaking too......
In this issue: Ukraine conflict Cases and decisions Types of insurance Regulation Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Case trackers Key dates Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Insurance: a Lexis®Nexis community Ukraine conflict Aviation Claims ( Zephyrus Capital Aviation Partners 1D Ltd and others v Fidelis Underwriting Ltd and others) On 28 March 2024, in Zephyrus Capital Aviation Partners 1D Ltd v Fidelis Underwriting Ltd, the Commercial Court in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales dismissed jurisdiction objections brought by overseas reinsurers, who attempted to rely on Russian exclusive jurisdiction clauses contained in their reinsurance contracts with Russian airlines. See News Analysis: What to know about the Russia-stranded plane ruling. See Practice Note: Ukraine...
Judge Robert Bright found for The London Steam- Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Ltd, issuing an anti-suit injunction to stop Trico Maritime ( Pvt) Ltd from pursuing a claim in Sri Lanka. Trico Maritime—alongside four other individuals asserting interests in portions of cargo lost when the vessel went down—had commenced proceedings in the South Asian country concerning the ship that sank in 2021, seeking compensation for the loss from the insurer as well as from other unidentified parties. According to the judgment, Trico Maritime and the four individuals alleged in Sri Lanka that the sunken vessel violated the warranty of seaworthiness and was responsible for the loss and damage to the cargo. The company asserted that The London Steam- Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Ltd......
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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